Focus on Faculty Scholarship

accenAlma College Alumni Magazine News and Events for Winter 2008 ts Focus on faculty scholarship Editor Mike Silverthorn Designer Beth Pellerito Printing Millbrook Printing Contributors Brian Bartes Nan Freed Susan Heimburger Renee Pietila ’08 Elizabeth Podufaly ’08 Saundra Tracy Alumni notes compiled by Alissa Coldwell ’11 Board of Trustees David T. Provost ’76, Chair Candace Croucher Dugan, Vice Chair More than 1,800 people jammed Gary W. Fenchuk ’68, Secretary Cappaert Gymnasium for a Bruce T. Alton speech by former U.S. Secretary Larry R. Andrus ’72 of State Madeleine Albright Sarah Sarchet Butter ’88 on Sept. 12. Albright discussed C. David Campbell ’75 leadership and respect during David K. Chapoton ’57 her talk and reflected on her James C. Conboy Jr. career as Secretary of State John C. Foster ’67 during President Bill Clinton’s administration. Prior to her Nancy E. Gallagher ’80 public speech, she met with Glenn D. Granger ’83 Alma College students for a Richard P. Heuschele ’59 question-and-answer session. Kevin. R. Johnson Following her speech, she signed David P. Larsen ’84 books for nearly 45 minutes. David F. Lau Donald A. Lindow John McCormack Thomas J. McDowell James T. McIntyre ’69 Stephen F. Meyer ’80 Roger L. Myers on the cover Antje Newhagen ’67 Marcia J. Nunn ’73 Going fishing? Not these guys. Alma College Faculty Biologists Dave Clark (left) and Glenda D. Price John Rowe spend a portion of their summers conducting turtle colorization and other research studies with teams of students on Beaver Island in northern Lake Ron R. Sexton ’68 Michigan. In this photo, they are checking turtle traps in Miller’s Marsh, measuring Lynne Sherwood turtle shell colorization, and taking spectrometer readings. Michael D. Stafford ’87 Photo by Susan Clark accents Winter 2008 features 5 The pursuit of knowledge Alma College faculty are actively conducting research in their fields of study. 13 Tell us about your Alma College memorabilia Judith Pelter ’67 discovers 45-rpm record of Robert Swan- son giving a speech. 14 The great turtle race Scot royalty selected at homecoming, page 12 Marine biologist Roderic Mast ’79 uses sea turtles to get his conservation message out in fun and interesting ways. 18 Beating the odds Rebecca Norris ’64 overcame obstacles to enjoy a career in medicine. departments 5 thistle & pipes 20 The Forgotten Children of Eastern Europe Students provide assistance to orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine. 14 great scots 24 highland games 24 The play that saved football 27 tartan tidbits New book by Phil Brooks profiles 1906-07 football coach Jesse Harper. accents is published in October, February and June for alumni, parents, students and other friends of Alma College. Send comments to Mike Silverthorn, Accents editor, mission Alma College, 614 W. Superior St., Alma College’s mission is to prepare graduates who think critically, Alma, MI 48801-1599, or e-mail: serve generously, lead purposefully and live responsibly as stewards of [email protected]. the world they bequeath to future generations. accents is viewable online at: http://alumni.alma.edu/accents/ only one alma. The rewards of faculty scholarship: Priceless! hile many people think of sig- In this issue of Accents, several profiles of nificant faculty research occurring Alma faculty and their scholarly work are Wonly at the large universities, that included. Often their scholarship is con- is not the case. Because higher education ducted in collaboration with undergradu- institutions are categorized as baccalaureate, ates, which results in opportunities for comprehensive (meaning undergraduate Alma students that are typically reserved with some graduate programs) or research only for graduate students at many other institutions, these categories may imply that institutions. Alma faculty share many faculty at institutions like Alma are not ac- stories of their students being the only tive scholars in their disciplines. One needs undergraduates presenting at national and only to look at the many contributions of international conferences or of articles co- Alma’s talented faculty to their respective authored with their students being pub- fields to understand excellent scholarship is lished in prestigious scholarly journals. happening at Alma College as well. There are costs for Alma faculty to con- Indeed, the context for faculty scholarship duct their research with undergraduates President Saundra Tracy is very different at Alma College when in terms of time to develop the students’ compared to the research institutions. At research skills to a level for such work many large universities, “publish or perish” often reserved only for graduate students. is more than just a catchy phrase. Promo- But these costs are offset by the successes tion and tenure criteria and salary increases of Alma students. One faculty member often are based on one’s research; teaching reported watching the major research is a distant second priority. institutions in that faculty member’s field The reverse is true at Alma College. Teach- engage in a bidding war to attract his stu- ing is the first and foremost priority, but dent research partner for graduate study. with the expectation of scholarship in one’s The rewards of this kind of scholarship field. That scholarship may take place in – priceless! the lab, relate to the application of one’s discipline in the workplace, or contribute to the pedagogy of the discipline. Dr. Sean Mo (left), assistant professor of chemistry, works one-on-one with a student. only one alma. knowledge Check a dictionary and you will find two meanings to the word “scholarship.” Most associate the word with a financial award given to a student to help with college study or living expenses. The other definition identifies scholarship as “academic learning and achievement.” Indeed, this second definition of scholarship — the pursuit and discovery of truth — is the essence of higher education. While this pursuit takes place daily at the student level in the classrooms and labs at Alma College, faculty also are focused on scholarly activity in ways that not only add to new knowledge but benefit their classroom teaching. Alma College faculty actively conduct research in their fields of study, write about their work in scholarly journals, and present their findings at conferences across the world. Most of the time, scholarship occurs with students working side-by-side with faculty. This issue of Accents takes a closer look at faculty research. Scholarship takes many forms at Alma. In the humanities, for example, it’s Joanne Gilbert preserving personal Holocaust stories, Kate Blanchard studying Martin Luther’s religious thought on the topic of money, and Nicholas Dixon examining the ethics of trash talking in sports. In the social sciences, it’s Thomas Ealey examining management issues in human resources and Mary Theresa Bonhage-Freund studying vocation in culture. In the natural sciences, it’s Myles McNally developing com- puter science curricular materials with Lego® robots and Maurie Luetke- meier testing new hydration drink formulas for athletes. Or research may take place outside a faculty member’s academic field, such as biologist Kay Grimnes pursuing a long-held passion for providing quality advising resources to students. These are just a few examples of faculty scholarship at Alma College. In addition, there are many Alma alumni who are conducting faculty research at their home campuses. We provide a couple of examples from Oklahoma State University and Brown University. We hope you enjoy their stories. Mike Silverthorn Editor, Accents Faculty profiles by Amanda VanLente-Hatter The pursuit and discovery of and discovery The pursuit thistle & pipes PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES | Following is a sampling of recent scholarly activity by Alma College faculty: ART AND DESIGN | Sandy Lopez-Isnardi, presenter, “Simply Land- scapes: Pixels & Prints,” Marie Louise Trichet Gallery, Litchfield, Conn., April 28 through Sept. 8, 2007. | Carrie Anne Parks-Kirby, author, “26th Annual Alma College Statewide Print Competition,” Journal of the Print World, Winter 2007. Presenter, “Standing Geisha with Fan” and “Kneeling Geisha with Tea Bowl” teapots, 18th Annual Teapot Show, Chiar- oscuro Galleries, Chicago, April 1 through May 13, 2007. Presenter, “Figurative Ceramic Sculptures,” Domesticizing: Interior/Exterior Relations exhibit, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, Jan. 12 through March 9, 2007. | BIOCHEMISTRY | Joe Beckmann, author, “Reversible Covalent Inhibition of a Phenol Sulfotransferase by Coenzyme A,” Archives of Biochem- istry and Biophysics 457. | BIOLOGY | Karin Grimnes, author, “Haiku Works (15 poems),” Heron’s Nest, SxSE haiku journal, GEPPO, and “Echoes,” Echoes/New Resonance Poets Update, Red Moon Press. | Mark Oemke, author, “Index of Biological Integrity for Fish Communities of the Pine River,” Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters An- nual Meeting, Abstracts, Oakland University. | BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION | Elizabeth A. Cameron, presenter, “Restrictive Covenants in Physician Contracts: A Contentious Issue,” Academy of Legal Studies in Business, Indianapolis, Indiana, Aug. 12, 2007. Co-author, with Thomas Ealey, “The Ties That Bind ... Operational, Ethical Issues of Restrictive Covenants,” Medical Group Management Association – Connexion, July 2007. | Thomas Ealey, author, “Behavioral Challenges in Today’s (HR) Market,” E-Newsletter / Medical Kate Blanchard Nicholas Dixon Christians and money: The root of all evil Trash talking: Essential, acceptable

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